DECEPTIVE LISTINGS, OLD PICTURES, FALSE ADVERTISING, RENTERS BEWARE! We were looking for a family vacation rental in the Virginia Beach area and came across what we thought was a nice vacation rental based on the information on their website and pictures (3640 Sandfiddler Road - Nautical Nonsense). We paid $15,000 for a Saturday to Saturday rental. When we arrived, I could not believe the terrible condition of the house. The listing indicated, (I am quoting from their listing) “The entire house has been painted, with all new lighting, artwork and decorations throughout” it further went on to say “The ground floor deck to the pool area is all new” and the pictures show this nice looking, clean beach front house – that definitely does not represent what the house looks like today!.... The description of the condition of the house was a total lie and deceptive to get you to rent from them. Here is just a short list without any exaggeration of what we found: spider webs and spiders in every room along the ceiling and corners, dead bugs on the window sills, dirty floors, ants in the kitchen cabinets, broken lamp shades, dead bug guts smeared all over the ceilings, dirty and stained carpet throughout, worn out towels, weeds up to 2 feet tall growing through cracks in the pool deck, 2 inches of standing water on the pool deck, not one usable cooking pan (Teflon was flaking off every one of them), screened porch screens broken with huge gaps, no screens on many of the windows, safety gates that did not close or latch, rear screen door that did not lock, windows and door wall glass and frames were covered in spider webs, dead bugs and dirt, (obviously had not been cleaned in ages), laundry room lights that did not work, GFI power outlets that did not work in the kitchen, mold and mildew in the showers and shower doors….. I could go on and on but hopefully you get the picture.
When I called the office to complain I spoke to Cindy the manager and told her that I wanted to be transferred to a different house or a refund. She immediately began to say that their contract does not allow for ANY refunds and that they would send somebody out to the house to “make us more comfortable”. Although they did send some people out to fix a few things the majority of the items were not addressed. I called the manager back, and said that I was not happy with their efforts and wanted at least a partial refund, as the house is not what was represented on their website. She again went back to their contract indicating that there are no refunds. As a business owner I understand contract law and I also understand that a contract does not protect a business from taking advantage of people by not providing what was paid for, which is definitely the case here.
During our conversation the manager clearly acknowledged that the home was not properly maintained and apologized but would not offer any price adjustment. I booked the listing in good faith and paid them based on what was represented on the website however as indicated above that is not what I got. For Sandbridge Rentals to not make any effort to make things right is bad business. I will be filling a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office for False and Deceptive Advertising. For anybody considering renting from Sandbridge Rentals I would advise you to stay away and LOOK ELSE WHERE!